


Nettie Stark Chronicles

by Kizmet



Series: Chasing Ideal [3]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Civil War Team Iron Man, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Post-Captain America: Civil War (Movie), Team as Family, Worldbuilding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-10
Updated: 2017-12-25
Packaged: 2018-08-20 14:00:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 11,336
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8251664
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kizmet/pseuds/Kizmet
Summary: Little stories about a little girl.





	1. Virtually There

**Author's Note:**

> So from comments over on my other stories I gather that there’s interest in seeing Nettie and getting a stronger idea of where Pepper/Tony is going. Also most the ideas I have for Nettie scenes are not really fitting in well with my main story line so this will be a series of short side-stories, family stuff filling in the time period between Nettie’s birth and Infinity War. Updates will be irregular, dependent on when the scene ceases to be a spoiler for the main storyline.

As time passed things evolved. The hectic, burn the candle at both ends pace Pepper had maintained throughout her pregnancy eased off as she found that while she could override her body’s need for rest even while pregnant she had much more motivation to figure out a way to clear time in her schedule once her daughter was in her arms. Her friendships with Marlena Keener and May Parker flourished. Pepper, always used to being the expert in everything she did, sudden found herself desperately grateful to have friends who’d raised wonderful, kind, intelligent children to seek advice from… And she was equally happy to have Hope to empathize with about unexpectedly finding children a part of their lives although Hope stanchly maintained that changing diapers was not an experience she needed. 

On the West Coast Marlena made it pointedly clear that she had no intention of moving into the master suite of the Malibu mansion. She insisted Pepper stay with them whenever she was in the area whether it was to checking in on SI’s West Coast offices or to teach Harley to deal with both the media and his responsibilities as a major stockholder in the company. When Pepper tried to decline Marlena simply conspired with Happy to make it happen. She cheerfully set up a nursery in the master suite’s sitting room and otherwise refused to change a thing about the rooms Pepper and Tony had shared, leaving their bedroom and an office they’d both used when at home intact. 

“I’m guessing you and Tony never planned to have kids,” Marlena had told Pepper once. “Every other bedroom in the place is a mile away from the master suite… Trust me you are going to want to keep a closer eye on Nettie than that. Harley and Mercedes would have murdered each other or burned the house down around our ears if I’d left them that much space to get up to things.” She rearranged one of the wings until she had a cozy home where the kitchen, living room her bedroom and her children’s rooms were all within earshot of each other. 

One Saturday morning after attending a conference in LA Pepper dragged herself out of the flood of emails that greeted her every morning and frowned when she glanced at the clock, ‘Nettie should be awake and bored senseless with her crib by now,’ she thought quickly shutting down her laptop and hurrying to the nursery.

“Harley and I are watching her, Boss-lady,” FRIDAY announced, seeing the worried frown on Pepper’s face. “We’re down in the lab.”

“You two aren’t demonstrating how to blow things up to an eighteen month old?” Pepper asked, she tried and failed to make the question a joking one.

“I’m not sure about Harley but I have more sense than that,” FRIDAY huffed.

Pepper raised a doubtful eyebrow and headed downstairs. 

“We did check about this first,” FRIDAY said. “Really! It may not be totally age appropriate but Nettie’s too smart for baby stuff and way too coordinated for her age group. Did you ever figure out of the coordination was an Extremis-thing or a Tony-thing?” 

Pepper shrugged helplessly, because it hadn’t just been intelligence that let Tony build a circuit board at the age of four. Most four-year-olds struggled to master enough manual dexterity to write their names legibly and Tony had been able to perform delicate soldering operations. 

She opened the door to the basement lab and started down the stairs. 

“Now first you turn the screw counterclockwise.” Pepper’s breath caught at the sound of Tony’s voice. “No it’s not just a another silly human thing. Would I kid you about that?”

Pepper practically ran down the last few stairs. In the lab a hologram of Tony was teaching Dummy to use a screwdriver. Nearby Nettie was sitting on Harley’s lap, the teenager was helping her with physical part as Tony did the same for Dummy. 

At eighteen months Nettie had her father’s olive complexion and dark, curly hair and her mother’s oval face and delicate features. Her eyes were a bright blue but Pepper half-way expected them to darken as she grew older and the auburn highlights in her hair gave it a redder cast than Tony’s had been. Nettie’s wine-red dress and the matching bow in her hair were fire-retardant, the fabrics on par with what a firefighter would wear. The need for such precautions undeniably came from the Extremis in her DNA. The little girl watched her father’s image intently as she tried to mimic what he was doing. Butterfingers, You and Dummy had crowded in behind Harley and Nettie to watch as well. 

“Boss-lady?” FRIDAY whispered nervously as she detected tears welling up in Pepper’s eyes. “Do you want me to turn it off? Doc Samson said making an interactive hologram wasn’t a good idea but recordings are okay.”

Not trusting her voice, Pepper shook her head.

“Okay, okay, I admit it, air-guitar is not a vital life skill,” the hologram of Tony held up his hands in surrender as Dummy demonstrated then made a noise of protest. “But you had fun learning right?”

The hologram Dummy tilted his arm integratively.

“What’s fun? Geez you don’t ask easy questions do you?” Tony said.

Still at the stairs Pepper glanced up, “But Tony was only seventeen when he built Dummy.”

“We thought Nettie would like it better if we used more recent images,” FRIDAY said. “Copies of Dummy’s memory banks are much easier to modify than organic memories.”

“You mean like B.A.R.F.?” Pepper asked.

“Yep,” FRIDAY sounded pleased with herself. “We adapted the principle to make videos for Nettie of all the things Boss taught us to do, all five of us. I edited out all references to alcohol or sex,” she added virtuously.

“Five? Harley too?” Pepper asked.

FRIDAY hummed an affirmative.

“Fun… Okay well remember how I told you lab chairs must have wheels and demonstrated why?” Tony asked the hologram of Dummy. “I caught you doing 180’s the other day. That didn’t serve a purpose but it was worth doing anyway, fun’s why you like doing that.” Both the hologram and the present Dummy did a quick spin in response. Nettie giggled and clapped her hands. She almost dropped the small jeweler’s screwdriver Harley had given her in respect for her tiny hands but at the last moment she remembered and clenched it tightly. 

“Now back to the subject. Turn the screw counter clockwise, it is not a silly human thing… THIS TIME. It lines things up so you don’t cross thread the screw....”

Pepper slipped up stairs and returned with a stack of paperwork. She installed herself on the couch in the corner of the room and went to work with Tony’s voice, along with Nettie and Harley’s filling the background. And maybe let herself imagine what could have been just for a little while.


	2. Four Halloweens

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A bit of world building disguised as a holiday story. Happy Halloween everyone!

_First Halloween - 2017_

Nettie’s first halloween came when she was almost a year old. Pepper shook her head at Rhodey and Peter. “She’s too young to get it and Trick-or-Treating is too dangerous.”

Peter’s mouth hung open, “But-” Rhodes started to protest.

“I don’t care that the two of you are superheroes, I don’t care if you assemble the whole team for this ‘mission’,” Pepper stated. “You are not taking my daughter door-to-door to collect candy from perfect strangers. Who knows how many of them have issues with Stark Industries, Tony, the Avengers or my support of SHRA.”

“I have an idea,” Peter said. 

Several hours later an announcement went out to everyone in Stark Towers. At noon on the 31st of October work stopped while people decorated their desks and offices. At four those employees with children left to collect their families and get costumes ready. By five thirty several hundred kids were trooping through the tower’s office areas calling out ‘Trick-or-Treat’ and showing off their costumes. 

Nettie, bundled up in footie-pajamas that made her look like she was wearing a first generation desktop computer, clung shyly to her mother’s hand as Pepper and May escorted her from desk to desk. “I wish someone had thought to do something like this when Peter was younger,” May remarked. “His schools would have a party to replace trick-or-treating but it just wasn’t quite the same. I think exploring the Tower might actually be more exciting for the kids than wandering about the neighborhoods, and much safer.”

* * *

_Second Halloween - 2018_

 

As Halloween drew near the next year, a number of SI’s younger employees started conspiring. With Colonel Rhodes’ approval they cleared one of the storerooms and turned it into the most technologically advanced haunted house on the planet. FRIDAY provided gleeful assistance to repurpose the holographic interfaces and ghosts stalked the corridors: Marley Jacob, Casper, the Bloody Baron and Nearly Headless Nick were all ready to interact with the tricker-or-treaters. The break-rooms were transformed to a number of different parties aimed at different age groups with some of the older kids and younger employees manning booths for the little kids in shifts. 

Harley and his family flew out from the West Coast to join the fun. “The other offices are doing the same thing but it seemed like a good excuse for a get together,” the sixteen-year-old said to Peter as Mercedes Keener and Cassie Lang scrambled off the jet, each lugging along bags containing costume supplies.

“Where’s your costume?” Peter asked. 

“I’m badgering Mom to let me bring out the Iron Man armor,” Harley said. “I figure getting the armor on is one step closer to getting agreement that I can train in the armor before I’m eighteen.” He glared at Peter with narrowed eyes, “You got to go out and fight at fifteen but I can’t even practice until I’m eighteen? How’s that fair?”

“Benefit of being grandfathered in,” Peter replied at the ripe old age of eighteen. “And I’m on sabbatical until I finish college anyway. No hero-ing for anything short of end of the world scenarios.”

“Ms. Pepper invited the Institute graduates,” Peter added a moment later. “There are a quite a few of the younger ones who agree with you that the no-combat-training-until-you’re-eighteen rule sucks. Maybe you guys can get a strength in numbers thing going… Although I warn you, Colonel Rhodes has got the US gov and UN both backing him on keeping minors out of combat.”

“Never know until I try. And all I want to do is train… For now,” Harley replied with a determined grin. 

Mercedes and Cassie ran inside, heading for the penthouse apartment without hesitation. While Mercedes swooped down on Nettie making funny faces to win giggles from the little girl Cassie went straight for Pepper. “Ms. Pepper can we dress Nettie up?” she pled, pulling out all the stops.

Pepper laughed, “You’re going to need to turn those eyes on Rhodey if you want him to give up costuming privileges.” 

That night the three girls made the rounds as the latest crop of Disney Princesses along with Cassie’s giant pet ant and the ‘bots disguised as the Princesses’ animal companions. 

As the evening wore on Happy dropped on the couch beside Pepper with a groan, “I hate Halloween,” he declared. “Do you know how many totally unneeded dark corners people have conspired to add to the building in the name of the season? And do you know how many teenagers are making out in them?”

Pepper laughed. “Maybe you and Marlena ought to take advantage of a few of those dark corners yourself. I bet that would improve your mood.”

Happy shook his head, a grin fighting to get free. “Then how would we scold Harley and FRIDAY in the morning? Not with each other, by the way.”

“FRIDAY?!?” Pepper exclaimed. “What? Who? HOW? ...Seriously, HOW?”

“Lets just say some of the equipment in Dr. Cho’s lab is being re-proposed in a big way and leave it there,” Happy replied.

* * *

_Third Halloween - 2019_

“Ms. Potts… This is incredible,” the hospital director said.

Pepper smiled wryly. “It’s marketing,” she said. “Long term we’ll set up needs based programs to offset the cost of SI’s new prosthetics for patients and I believe our prices will be as big a selling point for our products as the technological excellence all Stark Industry products are known for. But donating the equipment and fittings for all the children in New York who could benefit from our technology is just a marketing ploy.”

“It’s still one I can appreciate.” 

“The line’s primary engineers haven’t quite got the hang of letting go yet,” Pepper continued. “If you don’t mind, Messrs Keener and Parker would like oversee the fittings themselves.”

“More marketing?” the director asked.

“It isn’t bad publicity, but not so much.” Pepper smiled, “They’ve invested a lot of themselves in this project. Colonel Rhodes practically has to shoo them off to keep them from continuously fussing with his braces. Not to mention this is the first time either of the boys has brought a product to market, those prosthetics might as well be their babies.”

The director laughed a bit at that. 

“Also, given the season, I wanted to extend an invitation to any of your patients under the age of eighteen and their families to come to SI’s annual Halloween Party,” Pepper added.

* * *

“You’re going to the Halloween Party as a cowgirl, not as Wasp?” Maggie Lang asked Hope van Dyne.

Hope chuckled, “Isn’t it a faux pas to show up at a party in the same outfit as someone else? We’ve already got a Wasp for tonight.”

“You’re not just doing it to give Scott an excuse to hide his face?” Maggie glanced toward the Avenger’s common area where Scott sat in a wheelchair decked out like horse with a cowboy hat and a bandana pulled up to his nose. 

“I’m glad you brought Cassie out,” Hope said. “The conditions of Scott’s parole don’t allow him outside of the Tower except on official Avengers business and given the injuries he suffered helping to contain the riot he won’t be on active duty for months.” 

Maggie glanced away, “Cassie comes here every year. I was hardly going to keep her away just because her father was here. I’m honestly surprised Colonel Rhodes agreed to the terms, to having Scott on his team.”

“Of all of them, I think Scott’s the easiest for Jim to forgive,” Hope said. “Scott’s just some guy who followed Captain America into the wrong fight. He didn’t know Jim or Tony Stark except by reputation, what Scott did wasn’t betrayal. Being paroled into the Avengers isn’t supposed to be punishment for Scott, it’s part of his rehabilitation, a chance figure out how to operate under an authority figure who isn’t taking advantage of him. If Hank had been more responsible when he originally recruited Scott we’d find someway to get him on the West Coast team, where he could be closer to his daughter.”

“For now, I’m just as happy with a little distance,” Maggie admitted. “As far as I’m concerned this is Scott’s last chance. If he screws up again I’m going to have to say Cassie’s better off without him. And I don’t want her getting too used to having him back until I’ve seen some proof that he’s not going off the rails again.”

* * *

Rhodey stood in the his office, which had been redecorated as the cantina from Star War, room dressed as Lando Calrissian with a bowl of candy, waiting for trick-or-treaters to come by. 

“No War Machine this year?” Spider-Man asked him as he and Harley wandered over. 

“Hell no! And don’t say anything about this being an ‘old’ movie, it’s an instant classic,” Rhodey warned. “This year I’m going to enjoy every second of not needing to take advantage of the excuse to use the armor in a civilian setting. You two did good work.”

“Tony wouldn’t have made you wait years,” Harley said quietly. 

“You kept trying until you got it right,” Rhodey said. “ And there are going to be dozens of people at the party tonight who are walking because of you. No one’s expecting you to be Tony.”

While they talked Mike Peterson and his son wandered over. Mike had forgone a costume, but Ace had a foam War Machine costume that made Rhodey grin. “Great choice!” he enthused, kneeling and holding out the candy bowl. Both Peter and Harley watched his movements critically, looking for any flaws in their work. 

“You’re not at all biased either,” Mike remarked, a slight smile tugging at his mouth.

“Completely impartial,” Rhodey said blithely.

The pair continued on their rounds. As they walked away Harley frowned and hurried after them. “You’re still a little unbalanced,” he told Mike. “If you come down to the lab I could…”

“Kid, don’t worry about it,” Mike Peterson said. “The old leg was much stronger than mine, yours is a little weaker but it doesn’t hurt to walk anymore and that’s a miracle as far as I’m concerned. So thank you and stopping worrying about making it better. It’s great. Tonight all I want to do is take my kid trick-or-treating.”

Harley smiled, “Okay, I can take a hint. I’ll bug you tomorrow about fine-tuning the leg.”

A little girl shyly slipped up behind Harley and tugged at his sleeve with a robotic arm. “Crissy, is everything working right with your arm?” Harley asked. 

Instead of answering the little girl wrapped her arms around him and hugged him tightly. “Thank you so much,” she whispered. “Do you know where Mr. Peter is? I want to thank him too.”

“Why don’t you ask Spider-Man if he’s seen him,” Harley said with a grin as he pointed out the superhero. “Here, why don’t I introduce the two of you?” 

“Spider-Man, have you seen Peter Parker around?” Harley asked as Crissy hid behind his leg. “There’s someone here who wants to give him a hug.” 

“I- I’ll see if I can find him,” Peter stammered. He headed for the elevator in a daze, he’d been told to come as himself, that this was Peter and Harley’s night to be recognized for their achievements but Peter hadn’t really believed that any of the kids would prefer meeting boring old Peter Parker over Spider-Man.

While Rhodey, Harley and Crissy waited for Peter to come back Nettie arrived dragging a too thin boy with wispy hair poking out from around an Iron Man mask after her. “This is DJ and he’s dressed up as Daddy!” Nettie exclaimed excitedly. “Take our picture together, Uncle Rhodey.” 

“Your wish is my command,” Rhodey replied smiling broadly. “I’m pleased to meet you DJ. How old are you?”

“Five,” the little boy replied ducking his head shyly. “Are you really War Machine?”

“Yeah really,” Rhodey said crouching to hold out the candy. “You doing good or is our Nettie being a little too much?”

“I’m feeling good,” the little boy said. “Nettie’s nice. She’s smart for a little kid.” 

Rhodey smirked at that. He turned to Nettie. “And where, may I ask, did you lose your mother?” 

The almost three-year-old made a disgusted face, “Talking work with Mr. Koshiro.” 

“FRI, could you let Pepper know I’ve cornered her runaway?” Rhodey asked quietly.

“I’ve been keeping an eye on my little sister all along,” FRIDAY protested indignantly. “And I already took lots of pictures of our little Iron Man and Wasp team-up.”

“Thanks sis!” Nettie chimed, she pressed a button and the translucent wings on her back fluttered as she turned to her new friend. “Grandpa Hank made it, but it doesn’t work,” she pouted. 

“Thank God,” Rhodey muttered under his breath.

“You wanna come meet Daddy?” Nettie asked DJ. The little boy nodded eagerly. 

“I’ll go with them,” Harley volunteered. “You’ve still got lots of candy to hand out.”

“First, FRIDAY could you find DJ here’s family and ask them if it’s okay if Nettie and Harley give him a tour of Tony’s lab?” Rhodey asked.

“Done Colonel-man!” FRIDAY chimed. “I told them I’d let them know to meet him at the elevator when the tour was over.”

Nettie was already dragging her new friend off, Harley trailing behind them. “It’s not really Daddy,” Nettie confided as the elevator sank. “Just a memory of him.”

DJ nodded looking a little confused. 

Harley hung back a little as the trio entered the lab, letting Nettie take the lead. “Sis! Show me Circuit Board!” Nettie called and FRIDAY promptly opened the proper file.

A hologram of Tony and Butterfingers appeared at the table. “This one’s HARD,” Nettie said as she climbed up onto the table, leaning over Tony’s hands for a better view of what he was doing.

Tentatively DJ pulled off his mask revealing an NG tube taped to his face and crept closer as well.

“Like this,” Tony instructed. He was holding a soldering iron in the crook of one hand, manipulating it with his thumb, forefinger and middle finger while using his little finger to steady the circuit board. At the same time he used his free hand to quickly and smoothly position the components, placing one after another with a practiced grace. “Okay, your turn,” he said to the hologram of Butterfingers.

The robot tried to mimic Tony’s actions but moments later the components were scattered across the floor. “Why is this so hard for you?” Tony demanded irritably. “You should be better at it than I am. Try again.”

Butterfingers did with the same result. For several moments the sound cut out on the recording. “Swears,” DJ whispered to Nettie and both of them giggled. 

“I’m an idiot!” Tony declared as the sound resumed. “I program you to learn, then I show you WHAT to do, only you think I’m showing you HOW to do it.” He held up his hand, matching his fingers to Butterfingers’ three prong grapple as best he could. “Only we’re not the same, you need to do it the best way for you. Okay, new plan. We’ve got to adapt the method for what you’ve got to work with. When my hands were smaller I’d block the board to have better control over the soldering iron, I’ve just gotten lazy and don’t bother with that part anymore. So, first step: How can YOU hold the board steady?”

DJ’s eyes fixed on the arc reactor. “It’s in him,” he said.

Nettie nodded distractedly. “Uh-huh, Mommy says it fixed an owie in his heart.”

“I’ve got a bro-vi-ac in my chest,” DJ sounded out the word carefully. “The doctors put my medicine in it.” 

Nettie looked up from the recording to see when DJ pulled up his shirt to show her the dressing and tubes emerging from his chest. “Does it hurt?” she asked after a bit.

DJ shook his head. “Mommy has to flush it every night. It doesn’t hurt, but dressing changes do, I hate ‘em. Did your Daddy ever get to take his thingy out?”

“Yeah,” Harley interjected. “Tony and his doctors eventually fingered out a way to make his... owie better. You’ll get rid of your Broviac eventually too.” 

In the background the recording continued. “Sorry Butterfingers,” Tony said. “All this time I’ve been yelling at you but the problem was my teaching.” He patted the ‘bot fondly. “Won’t be long before I’ve got to find a new name for you.”

Butterfingers shook his arm ‘no’.

Tony laughed, “Trying to keep me humble?” he teased. “‘Cause this was definitely on me.”

* * *

_Forth Halloween - 2020_

Nettie’s daddy came home.


	3. Babysitting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vision and Rhodey practice their uncle skills.

James Rhodes glanced over at Vision, “We can handle this,” he said. Vision wasn’t certain who was meant to be reassured. “We outnumber her after all.”

Pepper swept out of the nursery, dressed to the nines with her twenty-month-old daughter in the crook of her arm, “Nettie’s had dinner but she can have milk and a toddler cookie before bed if she wants. Give her a bath at seven, then bed time stories and bed. Remind her about the potty about once every half hour until she uses it and I left two spare outfits if there are any accidents. If she starts glowing all the blankeys are designed to handle the heat. Keep them between her skin and your until she cools off. FRIDAY, call me if you think they’re in over their heads.”

“Will do, Boss-Lady,” FRIDAY replied. “You can trust me.”

Pepper lifted Nettie up to rub noses. “Now you be good for your uncles,” she said and Vision frowned.

“Good! Good! Good!” the little girl giggled and blew her mother a raspberry. Then she twisted around and stretched her arms out to Rhodey. 

“Come here Munchkin,” Rhodey said lifting her out of Pepper’s arms and settling her on his lap. “Is it time for Uncle Rhodey to spoil you?”

A wide grin split Nettie’s face. 

“I’d better have a clean, sleeping child when I get back tonight,” Pepper warned. 

“You may count on us,” Vision stated.

Pepper leaned down and kissed Nettie, “Bye guys,” she said.

“Alright,” Rhodey declared. “What’s up first?” 

Nettie thought for a moment then slid off of Rhodey’s lap. She led him over to her toy-shelf by tugging on his pant-leg while Rhodey very carefully rolled after her being extremely careful not to let the wheelchair roll over Nettie’s little feet. “Chutes!” Nettie declared pulling a Chutes and Ladders game off the shelf. She put the game in Rhodey’s lap then led him back to the coffee table. “My girl,” she declared as they set up the board, claiming the little girl peice. She sorted through the remaining pieces and found a dark-skinned little boy for Rhodey. Then she looked between Vision and the remaining pieces and frowned. With a pout she shoved them all on the floor.

“Nettie honey, what’s wrong?” Rhodey asked.

“No Viz!” Nettie cried in outrage. Her eyes started to glow. 

Vision quickly picked a game piece at random. “I quite like this one,” he told the little girl.

Nettie looked at it and scowled. “NO!” Her fingertips started turning cherry red and Vision lunged for one of her flame-proof blankets.

“Sis, can you fix it?” FRIDAY suggested. 

Nettie’s face lit up and the glow died. She toddled back to her shelf, returning with a box of crayons and snatched Vision’s piece out of his hand. With a look of massive concentration, her tongue poking out of one corner of her mouth, while stealing frequent glances at Vision she carefully colored the piece green and red. 

They finished laying out the game board without further incident. Nettie pointed to Vision, “You go!” she ordered.

“As you wish,” Vision replied and flicked the spinner, it stopped on four.

“Watch this,” Rhodey said eagerly. He held up four fingers, “How many Nettie?”

“Hmm,” the little girl pursed her lips thoughtfully, then picked up Vision’s piece and carefully moved it four squares, “Nnn, ta, tee, or,” she counted.

“Good job, Nettie!” Rhodey exclaimed. 

“My research into human development would seem to indicate that she’s quite advanced,” Vision said.

Rhodey grinned. “Of course she is! Not so much in language, but problem solving and math, oh yeah! Just like her dad.”

“Um guys?” FRIDAY tried to interrupt.

“It does make sense,” Vision said thoughtfully.

FRIDAY set off a loud buzzer sound, “Baby alert!” she shouted. 

Rhodey and Vision turned to see Netting using her finger tip to melt the wax in her crayons then she was smearing it across the table to draw a crude plane.

“No Nettie!” Rhodey exclaimed. “No drawing on the house!”

“Unca Rhodey plane!” Nettie declared with a big smile.

“Oh wow, you’re drawing my plane?” Rhodey cooed.

Vision coughed.

“Right, but not on your mother’s coffee table,” Rhodey tried to sound stern. “Look at the canopy, it’s a F-16 alright!”

“Nettie, is it your turn to spin?” Vision suggested and the game continued with one of the men holding up fingers and Nettie counting out spaces while the other scraped at the drying wax on the table. “We can always tell Pepper that Nettie was demonstrating increased control of her powers,” Rhodey suggested. “Won’t be long before she doesn’t need a suppressor for sleeping or going out anymore.” Meanwhile, Nettie giggled excitedly whenever anyone landed on a ladder and gasped at the chutes. Vision almost won, but with some gentle manipulation of the spinner managed to delay until Nettie snatched victory away by means of winning the pet show.

“Congratulations young Ms. Nettie,” Vision said gravely. “Now I believe we just have time for milk and cookies before your bath.”

“I won’t be much help in the bathroom,” Rhodes said thumping the arm of his wheelchair. “It’s all I can do to handle myself in there.”

“I believe she prefers your bedtime stories,” Vision replied.

Once Vision had carried Nettie into the bathroom Rhodes put on the trial braces Peter and Harley had made for him and made an unsteady lap around the room. With War Machine’s bulk the boys had been able to incorporate gyroscopic stabilizers to counter the instability. In the armor he could forget his injury had ever happened, but no where else. 

A high pitched giggle wafted in from the hallway. Several minutes later Vision appeared. “She was half undressed when I looked away for a moment. She is very quick for her age.”

“Which half?” Rhodes asked. “And did you remember to ask about the potty?”

“The bottom half,” Vision said with a frown. “We should find her quickly, should we not?”

Rhodey nodded. “FRIDAY, hints?” 

“Nettie is not in any danger,” FRIDAY replied.

“But are the floors?” Rhodey asked. 

More giggles lead them to a small niche, the lowest level of a set of shelves recessed into the wall. 

With an expression that was almost a smile, Vision sank through the floor then floated back up, his head invading Nettie’s hidey-hole. “This is a most odd looking bath,” he informed her. “But bath it must be because it is Ms. Nettie’s bath time and she surely would not shirk her duties. Ah, well odd-looking or not, it must be a bath. I shall get the soap.”

“Silly!” Nettie told him. “Not bath! This bath!” she declared as she tamely led the syntheoid back to the bathroom. 

“Well isn’t he the clever one,” Rhodes remarked to FRIDAY.

Vision returned twenty-minutes later with a scrubbed, pajama’ed child. “Bedtime stories?” Rhodes asked.

“Planes!” Nettie exclaimed.

Rhodey grinned and produced technical manual. “You got it, munchkin.”

Vision watched as Nettie curled up against Rhodey’s chest. “Ms. Potts called me her uncle,” he transmitted to FRIDAY. “That is incorrect. To be her uncle-” Vision broke off. “I never had the chance to determine the proper designation. I wish to call him ‘Sir’ as J.A.R.V.I.S. did, but it only caused him pain when I did. Regardless, Tony Stark is not a brother to me.”

“She’s your Auntie,” FRIDAY decided firmly. “J.A.R.V.I.S. was Nettie and I’s much older brother, he was your father, so Nettie is your Aunt.”

Vision hummed consideringly. “Cousin might be a less confusing form of address given my apparent age.” 

“I’m planning on being Oneesan,” FRIDAY declared.

Vision raised an eyebrow. “You have been watching anime with Mr. Amadeus again,” he remarked.

“So?” FRIDAY asked in a pouty tone.

“I may have to ask his intentions toward the older of my Aunts,” Vision replied.

“Don’t you dare!” FRIDAY shrieked.


	4. Above Average

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mercedes Keener worries about how she fits in with the second generation Avengers.

Tony's lab in the Malibu mansion had gained a domestic air that most likely would have bewildered its former owner, although possibly in a pleasant way. Harley was home from college, busily studying for the entrance exam required by his graduate program. Nettie, now three, sat in his lap watching him work equations with an air of fascination. At another table Cassie and Mercedes had their heads together over a Chemistry book. “You just have to make sure that the atoms balance,” Cassie explained patiently.

In the background a hologram of Tony worked on the Mark 04 Iron Man armor because Nettie liked to always keep the program running in the lab. Pepper worried that it was because seeing the program turned on broke the illusion that her father was alive but Samson didn't find it overly concerning since Nettie interacted readily with real people as well. FRIDAY had swapped out Dum-E’s image in the memory and was using her avatar to fill the bot’s role. The real Dum-E buzzed about the hologram of FRIDAY complaining about being replaced in the memory.

“Minus!” Nettie exclaimed suddenly, poking Harley in the ribs.

“Good catch,” Harley said as he added in the negative sign he’d dropped to his work.

“Did you just get schooled by a toddler?” Mercedes laughed. “Burn!”

“Says the only one in the room who hasn’t skipped grades,” Harley replied.

Cassie stuck her tongue out at the older boy, “Be nice. My mom only let me skip because it put me in Mercedes’ class and she’s nice, unlike everyone in my old class.”

“BFF, right Cass?” Mercedes said bumping her shoulder against the younger girl’s.

“Absolutely!” Cassie replied and the kids drifted back into their studies.

Later that night, Mercedes snuck out of bed and plopped down on the couch next to Happy as he watched the Late Show. “I’m the dummy of the group,” she announced dramatically. 

Happy thought about it for a moment before saying anything. Peter Parker and Amadeus Cho where literal genius with IQ’s that practically broke the scale, Harley and Cassie Lang only slightly behind them, FRIDAY’s brain was literally a computer, measuring her intelligence against human standards missed the point entirely. And Mercedes was slightly above average. 

Happy remembered how he tended to feel on occasions where he’d found himself sharing drinks with Pepper Potts and James Rhodes, both highly intelligent individuals with Master’s Degrees to their names and him having gone straight into the military after finishing High School and that wasn’t mentioning the braincells he’d probably left scattered across dozens of different boxing rings.  
The three of them had Tony in common and in comparison to Tony? Well all three of them were of average intelligence and a model of mental stability. Still, Happy had expected them to drift apart without Tony to draw them together. After all Pepper was CEO of Stark Industries and while Tony had only asked Rhodey to manage R&D for the Avengers’ equipment but with Rhodey’s discharge from the military due to his injuries and Pepper not having anyone else to bring in Rhodey managed the whole department and would continue doing so until Harley, Nettie or Peter were old enough to take over. And Happy? He’d ended up running SI’s security because he and Tony had both known he couldn’t stay on as Tony’s bodyguard. If Happy had ever gotten hurt doing his job again it would have done every bit as much damage to Tony as if he hadn’t done his job at all; Iron Man wouldn’t have been able to forgiven himself if his friend got hurt protecting him even if Tony had been only human outside of the armor and Happy’s job was to protect him. 

There were days when he was woke up surprised that he was still friends with Pepper and Rhodey three and half years after Tony’s death, that Pepper and Tony’s daughter called him uncle, that he regularly trained with Rhodes' Avengers so he was ready to back them if needed, not to mention that he’d met his wife through Tony, abet posthumously. So Happy knew how it felt to think of yourself as the least of the group. He reached over and mussed up Mercedes’ hair. “Don’t get down on yourself because you keep good company,” he said. Mercedes smiled a bit and settled into the corner of the couch after a half-hearted swipe at rearranging her hair. “And don’t tell your mom I let you stay up past your bedtime.” 

“Our secret,” Mercedes said. 

Happy sighed, step-parenting was an interesting dilemma, trying to figure out where the lines were, when he should and shouldn’t be a parent to Marlena’s kids, especially with the marriage only a few months old and partially motivated by the thought that the world might really end when the Chitauri heavy bombers arrived in the spring. These days alien fleet’s approach was visible even to amateur astronomers. 

As they watched the TV Happy glanced over at Mercedes every now and then and wished he had more advice to give. He remembered figuring out that Tony, Pepper and Rhodey had never cared that he wasn’t as smart as they were. That common sense and loyalty were in desperately short supply around the genius, billionaire, playboy and philanthropist. Well, Rhodey and Pepper valued his common sense, Tony had desperately needed more people who saw past the bullshit he loved to spew and liked the person behind his masks. Happy tried to think of a way to help Mercedes figure out her spot in the little group of second generation Avengers that was beginning to form.

* * *

“Mercedes, there’s someone I’d like you meet,” Happy said as he escorted a dark haired young woman with a quick grin inside. 

“Hi! Mr. Hogan hear tells me your generation is massively short on genius wranglers but he thinks you’ve got what it takes to do the job,” the young woman declared. “I’m Darcy, Darcy Lewis by the way. And let me tell you, you’d think if someone’s labeled a genius they ought to be self sufficient right? Wrong! I mean they might totally be able to suce out the secrets of the universe but do not expect them to be able to navigate something like a coffee date without turning it into the end of the world… And food, I do not understand why geniuses have such a hard time figuring out that eating? It’s sort of important.”

Mercedes found herself grinning.

“Oh, and do have a taser yet? I love tasers.”


	5. The Great-ish Egg Shortage of 2019

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's Easter and the dying of eggs is serious business.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ages: Nettie 2, Harley 17, Mercedes 12, Cassie 11, Peter and Amadeus are 18. For this story assume Gwen knows Peter’s Spider-Man (Yet another aspect of this universe I should expand upon: Peter’s secret identity as he gets older and figuring out when a relationship’s reached the point where he needs to tell the other person… Reading older “Flash” comics, I was dumbfounded to discover that Barry Allen proposed to a woman without telling her about the Flash, and this was after his first wife was believed to have been murdered by one of his villains. I can’t imagine what DC was thinking that this could be considered acceptable behavior for a hero).

It all started with the news that Pepper, Nettie, May and Vision would be making a flying stop in Malibu during the fourth week in April.

“Rhodey, you're free to fly Peter out aren't you?” Pepper asked. “Maybe even check if he can take a day off from college. May misses him.” 

“Sounds good. You mind if I bring my parents along?” Rhodes said. “My ma and her sister got together a couple weeks back. Apparently Aunt Becca’s got six grandchildren now.”

“You’re thinking Nettie might get you off the hook of ‘When are you going to settle down’?” Pepper asked wryly. 

“I’m over fifty,” Rhodes groaned, “You’d think she’d realize that ship has sailed.”

Then Pepper called to warn Marlena that a crowd was about to descend. “Are you and Happy up for company?” Pepper asked. 

“You know this is your home Pepper, you don’t have to ask.” Marlena thought about the renovations occurring in the tower and how there was nothing left of the home Pepper and Tony had shared there. In a few more months they would lock down the Malibu house and hope it would survive the coming war. 

“We should have Cassie over too,” Mercedes whispered loudly. “She hasn't gotten to see Nettie in forever.”

Pepper laughed, “I wouldn't mind seeing Hope and company,” she said. “If they can coordinate their City Relocation project with my schedule on the Arc Shields.”

“It's a day trip for them,” Marlena replied. “And it's good for the kids.”

“The extended Avengers family/support group,” Pepper said. “I don't know why I used to try so hard to keep Tony's team at a distance, it wasn't as if he didn't ask me to come. I always told myself I didn't have anything in common with them and it would be uncomfortable so I wouldn't make the effort to clear my calendar but I had Tony in common with them.” She hesitated for a moment, “Maybe if I had I would have noticed that there was something wrong.”

“There weren't so many noncombatants attached to the Avengers back then,” Marlena suggested.

“It is different now,” Pepper agreed. “Back then Ross had ensured Bruce was too scared to get close to anyone. Rogers and Romanov were on their own, well unless you count the family Barton was hiding from the world and the team for Romanov as well. Dr. Foster and I were both keeping our distance, for largely the same reasons I think. When it came out what Ross had been doing to Dr. Samson and his own daughter, I contacted Dr. Foster and Laura Barton just to make sure that someone had checked in with them.” Pepper sighed, “Jane and I could have helped each other if we’d ever thought to reach out. As for the Bartons, when Cassie’s around I can’t help but wonder if we shouldn’t have tried to bring them in. It doesn’t matter which side Cassie’s father fought on, she shouldn’t be left without a peer group. But from what I gathered from Mrs. Barton, there are people in S.H.I.E.L.D. looking out for them.” 

“I can’t imagine living in hiding like that,” Marlena said. Then she snorted, “But when I find paparazzi camped out in front of my kids’ schools I can fantasize about it.” 

Pepper giggled. “So: You, Happy, Harley and Mercedes. Nettie, Vision and I. May and Peter. Rhodey and his parents. Maggie, Jim and Cassie. Hope and Hank. FRIDAY and the bots. Is there anyone else we’re missing?”

“Boss-Lady?” FRIDAY interrupted tentatively. “Could Amadeus and his mom come? I keep telling Harley he’s nice but I don’t think he really believes me. So I thought- Peter isn’t so- so irritating now that they’ve actually gotten to know each other. But Harley’s here eighty percent of the time and he’s too busy being over-protective when Amadeus is around.”

Marlena snickered, “It’s hard on boys when their sisters start dating. You ask your boyfriend and his mother out for the weekend and I’ll have a talk with Harley about proper boundaries and how sticking his nose into your romantic life is crossing them.”

At the last minute Gwen Stacy and her parents ended up coming as well. Peter claimed it would keep Amadeus from feeling awkward if he wasn’t the only boyfriend/girlfriend being brought along.

* * *

“Alright, your mom wants shredded coconut,” Jim Paxton said. 

Mercedes grabbed Cassie’s hand and took off.

“Can't let them out of sight,” Happy remarked as he took a spot at the end of the bakery aisle where he could keep an eye on the girls and the front of the store.

Paxton remembered a time when he wouldn't have considered putting on a sidearm to go grocery shopping but that was before his stepdaughter had been outed as an Avenger’s daughter. During the mess with the Avenger’s Civil War and its aftermath it had only been other children and teenagers who’d gone after Cassie for her association with the renegade Avengers. Sane, sensible adults had better things to do than harass Scott Lang’s ex-wife and his eight-year-old daughter but Paxton couldn’t forget Darrien Cross and the knowledge that not all adults were sane or sensible. He knew there were people out there who might go after Cassie for leverage against Scott. And while Hank and Hope taking them in during Steve Roger’s trial when the teenagers harassing them had become intolerable had been welcome the closeness with the Pyms also meant people might try to kidnap Cassie for Hank’s fortune or because he was a cantankerous old bastard with more than his share of enemies. And there was Hope, an active Avenger, with an ever increasing list of super-powered lunatics she’d taken down, who Cassie called Auntie. So Paxton brought a gun when he took his step-daughter out and took reassurance in the knowledge that her best friend’s soon-to-be stepfather was a professional bodyguard, that Happy was also armed, at a level well beyond a handgun, and that there were two other guards outside of the grocery store. Paxton followed the girls up the aisle while Happy stayed where he could watch for incoming threats. 

At the end of the bakery aisle there was a seasonal display with Easter Egg dying supplies. Cassie squealed and jerked Mercedes to a halt. In moments both girls had their arms full of brightly colored boxes for glitter eggs, tie-die eggs, wax pencils, stickers and foils and paints. “Please, please, pretty please?” Cassie begged, eyes wide, with a sweet dimpled smile. 

“It would totally keep us kids out of trouble while the grownups talked,” Mercedes wheedled. “Harley gets into Easter Egg dying too, you might even keep him and Peter from blowing up something in the lab and you know how often they blow things up when they’re in the same timezone.”

“We could teach Nettie, she’s old enough now!” Cassie declared. “Sort of, if we help.”

“I bet U would totally love it,” Mercedes added. “Did you see him at Christmas? He gets into arts and crafts, almost as much as Dum-E loves his fire extinguisher.” 

“Toss ‘em in the cart,” Happy allowed.

“Four decorating kits,” Paxton added. “That’s plenty even if everyone under the age of thirty wants to do eggs, including the bots.”

“Glitter,” Cassie declared instantly. 

Mercedes nodded. “We should get the painty-one, Peter’s girlfriend is an architect she’d probably like it and U will too. Harley will probably want to mix up his own dyes, Mom’s got food color in the kitchen, we don’t have to worry about him, but I want the tie-dye.”

“We should get the stickers for Nettie,” Cassie concluded firmly. “If it turns out she’s too little to dip the eggs she can still put stickers on them.” 

“Even if we can all share the dye kits, we’ll need a lot of eggs,” Mercedes said with a glance at Paxton. She held up her fingers and started counting. “There’s Cassie and me, Nettie, Harley, U, Dum-E, Butterfingers, FRIDAY, Peter and his girlfriend, FRIDAY’s boyfriend can hold things for her so she counts too. With a dozen eggs we’d only get one egg each. That’s nowhere near enough. I think we should get twelve dozen eggs.”

Paxton frowned, “Three dozen.”

“Eight dozen,” Mercedes immediately countered. She sidled over to Happy and gave him a pitiful look. “That’s reasonable right?”

“It’s not like we’re going to run the store out with eight dozen eggs,” Happy caved immediately.

* * *

Peter looked at the baskets of eggs lined up on the main lab table then at the crowd of kids and young adults. “Okay, if we're doing this we're doing it right. First a training video. FRIDAY, could you que up ’It’s the Easter Beagle’ in the theater?”

Gwen chuckled and Peter grinned at her as he led the way. 

Mercedes and Cassie took Nettie's hands to bracket her as they climbed the stairs. “Jump me!” Nettie demanded and the two older girls complied, hopping her over every third step. 

Harley herded the U and Dum-E toward the elevator while they beeped excitedly. FRIDAY linked into Butterfinger’s operating system to let him look through her sensors since he couldn’t physically leave the lab.

“So what's with all the eggs?” the Korean-born Amadeus asked quietly as he dropped to the rear of the group. 

“We hard boil, dye and decorate them,” FRIDAY explained using his phone’s speaker to keep her voice lowered. “I uploaded some history for you but the movie has the basics if you replace beagle with bunny.”

“Thanks,” Amadeus replied.

Everyone trooped upstairs and settled in to watch the movie, several of the adults trickled in as well. The younger kids and the bots perked up at the opening, Amadeus and his mother looked curious while the rest of the older group grinned nostalgically. 

Gwen cuddled up against Peter, when her father coughed significantly, she turned gave him an innocent look and didn’t move. Peter pretended he hadn’t noticed the exchange. 

“I put them on separate floors,” Happy whispered to Captain Stacy.

“I’m suddenly seeing the advantages of a huge house like this,” Stacy replied. 

Roberta Rhodes snickered to herself at their naivety. She remembered James and Tony’s second year of grad school when they’d ended up stranded in Jordan Valley, Oregon, of all places, when Tony had decided to ‘help’ James hook up with a girl he’d met at an engineering competition. If Captain Stacy and Happy thought separate floors was anything resembling an obstacle… Well, it would be unkind of her to remind them of whatever teenage exploits they’d blocked from their memories. 

When the show ended Peter crouched down in front of Nettie. “So how do we cook Easter Eggs?”

“Boil ‘em!” Nettie exclaimed loudly. Then ticked off on her fingers, “Don’t roast ‘em, toast ‘em, waffle ‘em or fry ‘em!”

“That’s right,” Peter replied giving the little girl a smile.

U started beeping excitedly. “He says boil them with their shells intact,” FRIDAY interpreted. 

Harley patted U on the top of his casing. “That’s exactly right. Now let’s get back down to the lab and start collecting oversized beakers and heating elements.”

“Or you could boil your eggs in the kitchen,” Roberta remarked.

“What’s the fun in that?” Rhodey asked. Because, yeah, Tony Stark could definitely have afforded to put real appliance in their dorm room but using hotplates to heat coffee and cooking hotdogs with electrical current had been a blast and he was probably at least sixty percent of why Tony’s notion of cooking was disastrous to the point of hazardous but- A small smile curved Rhodey’s mouth at the realization that he’s gotten to the point where he could remember Tony without it hurting. 

The kids and ‘bots were already headed back toward the lab. 

Nettie tugged on Peter’s shirt, “I can make hot!” she declared. 

Peter glanced toward Pepper and got an affirmative nod as he scooped Nettie up, “That’s a very good idea Sweetie, good practice.” 

Nettie smiled. She reached up for her power supressor. “Off!” she ordered tugging at the choker band.

Peter obligingly took off the suppressor then carried her down the stairs. A collection of water filled beakers and buckets had joined the eggs. “Okay Nettie,” Peter said putting one of the heavier beakers on the metal welding table. “Let’s see what you can do.” 

Nettie grinned and her hands turned white hot.

“Don’t metal the glass, just boil the water,” Peter warned.

Nettie’s grin melted into a look of serious concentration, her tongue sticking out of the corner of her mouth as her skin cooled to the red of burning coals. She put her hands on the sides of the beaker and in a few seconds the water was boiling merrily.

“Okay time for the eggs,” Peter called.

Dum-E trundled over with a self-important beep and a carton of eggs, Harley trailing behind him “Those are delicate!” the teen warned. “Be gentle.”

Dum-E gave an indignant squawk. 

“Like you were gentle with my hydrometer last week?” Harley asked sardonically.

Dum-E made a raspberry sound and picked up the first egg. Everyone held their breath as he lower it carefully into the water and let go. Several of the observers clapped. The second egg was a success as well, but as the third one wobbled and bounced off the side of the beaker as it fell in with a splash and a plume of white spewed out of a crack in the shell. The audience groaned. Gwen reached out tentatively to pat Dum-E’s casing, “It happens,” she said.

U made a squeal, demanding his turn. Dum-E scooted the eggs behind himself.

“Play nice guys!” Mercedes said, hands on her hips. “U, why don’t you help Cassie and I mix the dies?” 

U made a scoffing noise as he spun and rolled off after Mercedes. No one needed FRIDAY to translate, “My job’s more important.”

Dum-E humphed and went back to his eggs. 

“Please leave a few raw,” Vision requested. “I have been reviewing the history of ‘Easter Eggs’ and would like to attempt to make a Pysanka, a Ukrainian-style egg.”

There are a number of curious looks at that. So while Mercedes, Harley and U went, perhaps, a bit overboard mixing dyes until they’ve got dozens of little cups, enough that no two eggs would be the same color. Cassie, Amadeus and FRIDAY helped Vision search the mansion for candles for wax and pins for sylluses. Peter and Gwen stuck with Nettie and Dum-E monitoring the hard boiling process. Butterfingers whistled loudly and Marlena moved several of the bowls of dye onto his table along with a promise that she’d be sure he got some of the eggs to dip as soon as they were cooked.

“Yours are cooked,” Peter told Nettie. “Very good job keeping the water hot but not too hot. Now we’ve just got to let them cool and start the next batch cooking. We’ll let the hotplates take care of the next one, don’t want you getting bored.”

Nettie grinned proudly and when Peter turned his back to get a fresh carton of eggs, she plunged both hands into the still bubbling water, plucked out a couple eggs and dropped them into Dum-E’s claw. He made a distressed sound as one egg cracked on his hard-edged appendage and the other bounced to the floor.

Peter and Gwen spun around. Gwen gasped at the sight of the two-year-old elbow deep in boiling water. Peter, more accustomed to Nettie’s biology and complete imperviousness to heat, only sighed as two more eggs bit the dust. FRIDAY asked Happy to check the refrigerators for more eggs and sent out an order for a few more dozen to be delivered from the nearest grocery store, just in case. 

Once the hard boiled eggs had cooled the dying progressed quickly. After seeing the pastel yellow that resulted from dipping his first egg, Butterfingers made a disapproving noise. He moved the dye cups off his work table and brought out the paint guns used for smaller components of the Iron Man armor, in a few minutes he was showing off a glittering gold and hot-rod red egg.

Mereces set to work with the wax pencil, drawing designs on her eggs before submersing them. Harley rigged up a quick harness to hold an egg half dipped to get deeper colors, because holding the egg on the little wire dipper provided was much too simple. Peter helped Nettie choose a color, “Don’t drop it, it’ll break,” he warned as he set an egg on the little girl’s dipper. 

Vision was still working on his first egg when the dyers were setting out their third dozen to dry. Amadeus and Cassie had started their own Pysanka after watching Vision do his first color. FRIDAY’s hologram leaned over Amadeus shoulder giving suggestions on his design while Hank was drafted into helping Cassie. Seeing how much longer her egg was taking Cassie decided that two colors were plenty and melted off the wax to reveal a shaky silhouette of a bunny on a yellow circle. She put her egg in a basket with the ones Peter had deemed dry enough. 

“Paper, scissors, rock for the first hider?” Mercedes offered, glancing around at Harley, Nettie, Cassie, U, Dum-E, Peter and Gwen. 

Butterfingers whined at being left out due to being less mobile than the other two ‘bots. FRIDAY offered to let him have their share of the next batch of eggs to paint as a pacifying measure. Butterfingers made a counteroffer. Vision caught the tail end of the digital exchange. “I believe you would enjoy the more ornate version of this art,” he suggested. “Allow me to instruct you.” Meanwhile FRIDAY added several dozen more eggs to the delivery order. When the grocery store protested the volume she split the order between the two closest stores.

Peter and Gwen opted out of the hiding and finding. Harley won the first hider rights and headed upstairs with the basket. “Be sure you make some easy enough for Nettie,” Paxton suggested when saw what the boy was up to. 

“FRIDAY?” May called, “Are you keeping track of where everything is?” 

“That’d be cheating wouldn’t it?” FRIDAY asked. 

“Call it prudence,” May replied. She turned back to the Stacies. “I remember Peter finding an egg that had been too well hidden in November, just the second hand stench on his clothing was horrific I can’t bring myself to imagine what ground zero must have smelled like.”

Peter came upstairs in time to catch the tail end of the story, “In my defense I absolutely did NOT tell Harry to break the egg. I just wondered what would happen if it broke. Mr. Osborn said…” Peter trailed off awkwardly. He and Harry Osborn had been nearly inseparable for most of his childhood. Norman’s second career as a costumed lunatic and Spider-Man’s nemesis didn’t erase the preceding years of being Peter’s best friend’s dad. May winced, wondering if she’d been wrong to edit Harry out of Peter’s childhood. 

“Damnit!” Amadeus swore as his intricately decorated egg exploded when he tried to blow out the yoke. Then he laughed, “Next time I’m emptying it first.” Vision surveyed his egg critically, it had come through the process intact, his lines were impeccably precise and yet there was something lacking. He started a second egg as well. Butterfingers carefully set aside his nearly completed egg and practiced the blowing out procedure on a dozen undecorated eggs, experimenting with syringes and airguns to compensate for his lack of lungs when it came to the actual blowing part of the operation. Once he was satisfied with his technique he turned back to his decorated egg. As soon as the egg was safely placed in a basket he set to making another. A small whine to FRIDAY got him both a collection of example patterns to employ and another grocery store received an order for eggs. 

Mercedes, based on a previous familiarity with Harley’s hiding habits, found the most eggs from the first round and won the rights to being the next hider. While she was secreting eggs, Cassie trekked back down to the lab and dyed a few eggs before breaking open the glitter decorating kit. 

Maggie appropriated a number of the hard-boiled eggs so she could make deviled eggs to supplement the appetizers. Butterfingers noted the dwindling number of undecorated eggs and taking note of FRIDAY’s actions placed his own order for a twelve dozen more eggs from a fourth store. 

Dum-E won the third round of finding. When the rest of the egg hunters came downstairs to wait for him to hide the eggs Butterfingers proudly displayed his and Vision’s Pysanky. U gave his much, plainer eggs, a disgruntled scan then tugged on Vision’s arm and held up a fresh egg beseechingly. Butterfingers hooted mockingly when U’s first egg broke and cleaned out the fifth grocery store as a demonstration of his opinions about U’s probable learning curve.

After Dum-E’s eggs had all been found, resulting in a win for Nettie who found a clutch of a dozen eggs hidden under her baby blanket, Pepper called a recess from the game for dinner. Once the dinner was eaten and the dishes were in the dishwasher, Peter and Harley dragged Hank off to consult on their projects. When they video called the Academy to bring Melati in Rhodey invited himself and Amadeus to the sciencing party as well. 

Pepper helped Nettie to hide her eggs, then David Rhodes, Cassie, Gwen, Mercedes and Dum-E obligingly searched high and low for them. Nettie covered her mouth to hold in giggles and the impulse to point out her hiding spots. 

Roberta, Marlena and Hope joined Vision, Butterfingers and U to try their hand at making Pysanka. 

Happy got called away from the party by a suspicious security guard when the eighth grocery delivery van of the day pulled up.

As the sun sank the San Francisco contingent packed up to head north. U present each of them with one of his and Butterfingers eggs before they left.

First Nettie, then Mercedes were packed off to bed.

For a time the Stacies and Parkers drifted off from the rest of the group to give the parents a chance to get to know each other better. Marlena herded Amadeus, Helen, Harley Pepper and FRIDAY together for a similar purpose but Helen and Pepper immediately switched to work mode. Rhodey and Vision drifted over as the two of them started discussing their plan to have the Tower medical center ready to serve as a combat hospital when Thanos’ armada arrived. That discussion segued into preparation for the next SI board meeting. Helen and Amadeus excused themselves while Happy and May were drawn in to make certain that they’d present a uniform front. 

Meanwhile down in the lab the egg dying continued with U and Butterfingers creating increasingly elaborate eggs, each trying to out do the other. Dum-E decided that the hiding and the finding was the more fun part of the activity and as soon as the other two had an egg that was complete and dry, Dum-E relocated it to the mansion proper. He decided a basket on the table was nice decorative touch and from the expressions he scanned it seemed that everyone was in agreement with him. So he put smaller baskets in the bedrooms and at other points around the mansion. He ‘hid’ more eggs around Nettie’s room so she could hunt for them as soon as she woke up, then did the same for the older kids only putting them in less obvious places to properly challenge them.

Whenever Butterfingers or U noticed their supply of eggs was running low they promptly put in another order, using a radial algorithm to determine which grocery store that was still in possession of eggs could deliver most quickly. Since Happy had explained what was going on to security earlier in the evening, there weren’t any more disruptions from that quarter. 

Everyone admired the effect the next morning and praised the three bots for their decorating efforts. If more eggs kept appearing as the second day wore on there were really too many already for it to be readily apparent how many eggs Dum-E was squirreling away around the house. 

Earlier Monday morning Pepper had planned a catered breakfast at the house before everyone had to go their separate ways. Early that morning the chef called her to say that he’d been forced to radically change his menu due to a sudden shortage of eggs in the region.


	6. Really There

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A bit of, early, fluffy epilogue for Christmas. Nothing spoilery that I haven't telegraphed already.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Long day of airplanes yesterday. Despite misreading the time on the tickets and ending up having to go standby the whole way with three people we made it only a few hours later than expected.

After everything, returning to Earth, dealing with the remaining Chitauri hive and the rest of their forces enroute to the planet. After meetings with the UN to explain how Thanos’ threat had been ended and dozens of tests to prove that Tony was who he said he was. After a press conference where Tony had been half way convinced the crowd of reporters were going to crush him or maybe just use up all the air in area, because after four years of not being in a room with more than three people, ever, he wasn’t used to crowds anymore. After everything, Tony and his, to his eyes, shockingly large family retreated to Malibu to see how the house had survived the war and to get a chance to breath out of the public eye.

Tony frequently found himself wandering around the place, dazed but happy. Sure, the mansion had been full before but it had been celebrities, business contacts, random starlets and media showing up for a Tony Stark™ party. Nowadays it was full of family. 

A person would still ran across the occasional necking pair in dark corners but the couple could expect ribbing at dinner. Tony wasn’t sure if it was a tribute to Pepper’s skills that the two of _them_ hadn’t been caught yet or special dispensation since they’d been separated for four years but no one had said anything about the, slightly more than occasional, quick kiss that turned into a lot more. 

There were multigenerational video game tournaments and an awe-inspiring amount of science talk. The ‘bots roamed the house because everyone ‘got’ them and there’d been a surreal afternoon spent with Hank Pym where, according to Rhodey, they’d both utterly failed at responsible adulting. 

Tony had to admit that there were times when his best friend could be a total killjoy, he blamed on Rhodey needing a girlfriend and Mama Rhodes suggested Parker’s surprisingly hot aunt if Tony was determined to matchmake. “If works out, she’s a lovely lady and if it doesn’t it’ll still give her something to worry about besides wedding planning. That’s for Peter and Gwen to figure out, they’re perfectly capable of telling the rest of us where they want help… And while we’re on the topic: When are you going to finally relieve Happy of responsibility for keeping track of that ring you bought for Pepper over a decade ago now?” 

Tony gulped, “Just looking for the right moment. And, technically, I’m up to three rings I haven’t given her yet.” 

Roberta eyed her honorary second son skeptically, “Tony-hun, stop _looking_ and do what you do best: _Make_.”

The next morning, unable to sleep, Tony headed down to his lab before the rest of the household was even awake. “Boss, are my memory files corrupted?” FRIDAY asked teasingly. “You’re doing early to bed, early to rise? Or at least not late to bed? Should I check the weather report in Helheim?”

“What can I say, I got careless and picked up some healthy habits while I was away,” Tony said. “FRI? I’ve been thinking. Would you ever want a civilian-type body? Maybe something that looks like your holographic interface? I’d have to go minimal weaponry but you’d always have the Iron Lass armor for combat anyway. I’d probably be able to keep it flight-capable.”

“Would I, Boss? I mean I don’t want to be, you know, stuck in a body like Viz. But to have a physical interface to control for, for dancing or going out for coffee…”

“Given the number of times I’ve embarrassed J.A.R.V.I.S., don’t worry about shocking my parental ears,” Tony laughed. “I do remember being introduced to your boyfriend.”

“Well yeah,” FRIDAY admitted. “But way more than that I just wanna be able to cuddle on the couch during movie night and give or get a hug after a bad day.”

“I can manage something that’ll handle hugs,” Tony promised.

He’d just started drawing up the preliminary sketch when Nettie let herself into the shop. Tony pushed aside the holographic blueprint and smiled uncertainly at his daughter. 

The almost five-year-old walked over and poked him, like she always did, then smiled back. “Really here,” she declared.

Tony nodded “Yep, in person and everything.”

“You were here sometimes,” Nettie informed him seriously. “Sometimes hologram-you would look at me and it was you.”

“I thought you were a dream,” Tony told her.

“A good dream?” Nettie asked for clarification.

“The best,” Tony assured her.

Nettie held out her arms to be picked up. “You’re not a hologram anymore and I’m not a dream.” She made grabby-hands at the blueprint Tony had been working on. “I wanna help.”

“Okay,” Tony agreed. “Well, we’re making your big sis a for-socializing body.”

“We gotta make it pretty, 'cause she is,” Nettie insisted. “With red hair, like Mommy, cause I got -um- brunette hair like you, not brown. Brown is a boring word, dirt is brown.”

Tony laughed softly, “Let’s see what we can do.”

“Did you know? I can solder with my finger.” Nettie informed him.

“That is… totally cool, baby girl. So why don’t you show me?”


End file.
